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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29897721">Cards on the Table</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblecrescent/pseuds/noblecrescent'>noblecrescent</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Nancy Drew (TV 2019)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>Awkward Crush, Denial of Feelings, Enemies to Lovers, F/M, Fluff, Frenemies, Mutual Pining, One Shot, bickering frenemies</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-03-07</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-15 18:13:27</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>General Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>7,003</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29897721</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/noblecrescent/pseuds/noblecrescent</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Ace has more than one enemy at the library but at least this enemy is more willing to help him and his friends solve a couple mysteries. The only issue he can't resolve is why he keeps coming back to the library when he doesn't have to. Agatha Rhodes isn't nice at all. Then again, she would say the same thing about him.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Ace/Original Character(s), Ace/Original Female Character</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>Cards on the Table</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>Just a little one shot because I am slowly falling into a fixation with Nancy Drew! Might expand into a full fic later on!</p>
<p>As always, I have a tumblr account dedicated to my fanfic works! It's a place where anyone can comment about a story or even just talk to me! I often drop aesthetic work belonging to my stories too! Feel free to check it out, my URL is "saiilorstars"</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Now that he looked back at it, the first time they met he could've been a little less competitive. If he had, maybe they wouldn't have started off on a bad note. Maybe his other enemy wouldn't have had such an easy time making an ally out of her.</p>
<p>But it was too late.</p>
<p>Agatha Rhodes was the bane of his existence.</p>
<p>Maybe she wasn't <em>that</em> bad but he sure as hell wasn't going to let her get away with her jabs. Ironically, that's what <em>she</em> said about him. Their communication wasn't the best.</p>
<p>At the very least, now that they were adults, they didn't have to see each other very often. She avoided the Claw and he avoided the library. Unspoken rules they set up and followed through.</p>
<p>Until homicide mysteries arose and Nancy Drew required assistance from both sides.</p>
<p>"Your arch enemy is the library's <em>children's read</em><em>er</em>?" Nancy couldn't believe her ears when she heard the story.</p>
<p>With a straight face, Ace nodded. "Don't be fooled," he said as they both watched a brunette woman reading to a small group of children, "Underneath that smile, she's dangerous."</p>
<p>The only reason Nancy wouldn't snort on the spot was because of the reading session. They waited patiently for the session to end but even before it did, the brunette woman had already seen them. There was a glint in her eyes that didn't go unnoticed by Nancy. When she looked over at Ace, she found the same glint in his eyes too.</p>
<p>As soon as the reading session was done, they pulled the woman to the side to make their very much needed request.</p>
<p>"Well, well, well, so you need my help now?"</p>
<p>"I don't specifically need <em>your</em> help, Agatha," Ace corrected, "We need someone in general."</p>
<p>That didn't lessen her smirk. Agatha led them to the checking out desk and moved behind it to take a seat. "Well, you're here asking for help sooo...it sounds like you need little ole me." Her eyes flickered to Nancy beside him. "To be clear, the reason he doesn't like me is because I beat him at a competition a couple years back. I'm actually a very helpful person."</p>
<p>It took Nancy several seconds to realize that the odd noise she'd heard had been Ace <em>snorting</em>. She'd never heard him do that.</p>
<p>Agatha, however, deadpanned him for it. "You're annoying," she spat.</p>
<p>"And you're cocky," he returned within the second.</p>
<p>"And I still need help," Nancy awkwardly said as she rocked back and forth on her feet.</p>
<p>Agatha cleared her throat to reel herself back. "Sorry," she flashed Nancy an honest smile. "Whatever you need from me, I'm here to help."</p>
<p>"Thanks," Nancy said, briefly glancing at Ace to see if he was okay. He was engaging Agatha in a silent glare-off. Agatha could multi-task so she pulled up the security feed that they'd requested all while upholding her own glare for Ace.</p>
<p>"You're lucky we store all of our security footage for a year..." she remarked as she turned the computer around for them to see.</p>
<p>"Actually, my Mom implemented that policy on my suggestion," Ace was quick to remind, flashing her a small smug smile.</p>
<p>Agatha raised an eyebrow at him. "Does she know why?" She made a brief nod to Nancy.</p>
<p>Nancy, of course, didn't know but she suspected it was not for a glorious reason judging by Ace's face.</p>
<p>"First season of Serial really shook me..." He eventually confessed.</p>
<p>Agatha chuckled. "So Mama listened to her boy, of course."</p>
<p>Nancy pursed her lips together to prevent a laugh from getting out. Agatha spoke so smoothly with the right touch of sarcasm. She was like a George but more upbeat.</p>
<p>"Anyways, because of Ace's connections here, you guys can look through the footage on your own." Agatha pushed her long brown hair behind her shoulders and put on her best, sweet smile (for Nancy). "If you need anymore help, let me know."</p>
<p>"Thank you," Nancy said, feeling like Agatha was being honest.</p>
<p>Agatha's eyes flickered to Ace again, "And if you need anymore help..." Her sweet smile widened impossibly, "<em>Don't</em>."</p>
<p>"Yeah, don't worry," Ace called after her then soon heard Nancy snickering beside him. "It's not funny—she's not funny."</p>
<p>"This whole thing is funny," she corrected. "<em>How</em> did this happen again?"</p>
<p>Ace crossed his arms tightly. "It's complicated," he muttered. He would much rather focus on their homicide mystery than keep talking about Agatha.</p>
<p>~ 0 ~</p>
<p>The next time they crossed paths seemed just too close to their last encounter. Again, looking back at it, Ace supposed that he could've just gone the other way and that would be that. Agatha carried a big box in her arms, heavy by the sound of her grunts, and was struggling to reach the library's front doors. He could've gone the other way, the back door for all he cared, but then...it was also a priceless opportunity to mess with her a bit.</p>
<p>"Need some help there?" He asked after a book spilled from the box, landing with its spine up.</p>
<p>Agatha groaned. "Not from you."</p>
<p>"You'd let everything in that box drop rather than let me help you?"</p>
<p>"<em>Noo</em>, I'd rather let everything in this box drop just so you won't touch anything."</p>
<p>Alright, he may have set himself up for that answer but dammit it was a good answer that he would've used too if roles were reversed. "Agatha, let me take the box."</p>
<p>"How about you just disappear so this can get easier?"</p>
<p>"If you really think that'll help with the weight of the box, I will be deeply concerned with your intelligence."</p>
<p>Agatha shot him a wry smile. "Why Ace, I didn't know you could ever be concerned about me."</p>
<p>He rolled his eyes at her. "Alright, give me the box!"</p>
<p>"No!" In her attempt to turn away, a couple things actually fell from the box. She groaned. "Now look what you did!"</p>
<p>"<em>Me?</em> I wasn't the one holding the box." Ace shot her a smirk.</p>
<p>"I really hate you." Agatha shoved the box to his chest, ignoring his grunt from the sudden weight. "What the hell are you doing here anyways?" She picked up the two books and, if Ace was seeing correctly, a pack of playing cards.</p>
<p>"I'm here to see my mother, what else? You think I came for <em>you</em>?"</p>
<p>Agatha snorted. "If you had, I'd be crying because who would want to see you?" She dropped the books into the box and the deck of cards after a moment's hesitation.</p>
<p>"Now tell me what on Earth a library could gain from a deck of cards?" Ace had to ask. As annoying as Agatha was, he was well aware of her apt skills for organization when it came to the library.</p>
<p>"It accidentally fell in when I was putting things into the box," Agatha said.</p>
<p>"These are <em>your</em> things?" Ace sent the collection of books a disdainful look. "The poor souls of Horseshoe Bay don't know what they're about to check out." Agatha could've turned red if she didn't know the rile it would cause him. He looked up with a big, and proud, grin as he waited for Agatha to respond.</p>
<p>"I will never understand how the hell your amazingly kind mother could produce <em>you</em>." She turned away and headed for the doors. She pulled them open for Ace to walk on in.</p>
<p>"You <em>have</em> had that kind of talk, right?" He smirked at her again. Agatha could almost let the door shut on his face. "Hey, could I keep that deck of cards?" He suddenly asked her.</p>
<p>"<em>What</em>!?"</p>
<p>"The deck of cards. I like playing."</p>
<p>"What? No! I said they're not supposed to be in there!"</p>
<p>"I bet you don't even know how to use them."</p>
<p>"I <em>do</em> know how!"</p>
<p>"Then how about a game—winner gets the deck?"</p>
<p>Agatha took in a deep breath because she most certainly didn't want to yell in front of the library. "You know what?" She reached inside the box to pull out the deck of cards. She opened them up and went skimming through them until she pulled out one card. "You can have this one!"</p>
<p>Ace almost laughed at her, <em>almost</em>. Laughing would mean he enjoyed the conversation and this wasn't it. "Funny," he instead remarked. She would, of course, hold the ace card. She was smirking proudly of herself as she put the rest of the cards back into its box. "It's definitely the first time I've seen that joke. But if you know anything about playing cards, you'll know that the ace is one of the honor cards. One of the highest."</p>
<p>"And also one of the lowest," Agatha reminded him. "It can have a value of <em>one</em> which is what <em>you</em> are to me on a scale of 1 to 10."</p>
<p>"Ever so sweet, Agatha." Ace deposited the box back into Agatha's arms, swiping the card from her hand before it would fall. As a courtesy, he took the deck of cards as well and dumped it into the box. "I'll take it." He tucked the card into his back pocket and held the door for her.</p>
<p>"What? You said you wanted to help—"</p>
<p>"I'm only a <em>one</em>," he shrugged innocently.</p>
<p>Agatha glared at him. "I really hate you," she declared and walked into the library with her heavy box.</p>
<p>~ 0 ~</p>
<p>"Oh god, not again," Agatha mumbled under her breath when she caught sight of who walked into the library. Maybe if she pretended to be focused on her journal God would take pity on her and make her invisible.</p>
<p>That idea went out the window when a bright red ace card was slipped over her journal. She sighed internally and put her pen down. She looked up to see Ace smiling much too innocently. At least he wasn't alone which meant that whatever he wanted—or whatever the pair of them wanted—wouldn't involve a lot of talking.</p>
<p>"It's your favorite number one," he decided to start the conversation that way, thinking it would either irritate or at least be funny.</p>
<p>Agatha slid the card back to him. "Anything you touch, I don't want," she said with a polite smile. Her eyes flickered to Nancy beside him. "Hey Drew, what do you need today?"</p>
<p>"It'll be quick," Nancy said, about to add more when Agatha cut her off.</p>
<p>"Is that a promise?" Agatha sent a brief glare in Ace's direction. "Cos your friend's kind of annoying."</p>
<p>"I just...I need the computer," Nancy came out with it.</p>
<p>"For the security feed again?"</p>
<p>"Not exactly, we need to see who checked out a certain book that it's, um, of special interest."</p>
<p>"I can't tell you that information," Agatha shook her head.</p>
<p>"We know genius," Ace said, ignoring her second glare, "Which is why you should go take a walk or something..."</p>
<p>Agatha tilted her head at him, glares and sourness gone to be replaced by seriousness. "Listen, I know we share a tetchy type of relationship but you're really crossing a line here asking me to put my job on the line. I <em>need</em> this job."</p>
<p>For her honesty, Ace would pay her back with the same coin. "I get it but this is really serious. You won't get into trouble if anything happens. I don't mess with people's jobs."</p>
<p>Agatha glanced at Nancy. The ginger seemed anxious as she waited to hear whether or not Agatha would help them. "I don't know..."</p>
<p>"We'll be quick," Nancy said. "And like Ace said, you won't get in trouble for anything. It's <em>really</em> important."</p>
<p>"Really?"</p>
<p>"It is," Ace promised. "C'mon Atty, do us a solid."</p>
<p>It was hard not get incensed with that name. "I told you not to call me that!" Agatha hissed. "My name is <em>Agatha</em> and you know it."</p>
<p>"I just thought it'd be a step up from the old lady name," Ace shrugged. Beside him, Nancy was glaring at him. This was not the way to get Agatha on their side. He knew that but he just couldn't help himself.</p>
<p>"It's a family name you moron!"</p>
<p>"Hey!" Nancy decided to take her chances and cut into what would no doubt turn out to be a spectacular bickering. "Agatha, will you help me please?" Agatha commended her for being smart and saying <em>'</em>help <em>me</em>'. "Ten minutes top is what I'll take."</p>
<p>"You're lucky I like you, Nancy," Agatha said with a sigh. "But only ten minutes, okay?"</p>
<p>"Done!"</p>
<p>Agatha moved around the desk after double checking that no one was looking. She was only a few steps away when Ace called her back. "<em>What</em>?" she hissed as she returned.</p>
<p>"Nothing, just forgot this." He made a gesture to her notebook still on the desk. "Thought you could doodle or something, whatever you do on the job." As soon as he started looking at the pages, she swiped the notebook into her arms, but it was too late. "What's <em>beat reporting</em>?" He made a face.</p>
<p>"None of your business!" Agatha snapped. "It's a college course that you're not enrolled in and thank <em>God</em> or else I'd go insane!" She turned around on her heels and hurried off.</p>
<p>"Why do you enjoy pissing her off so much?" Nancy asked as soon as it was just her and Ace. She'd managed to work through the computer pretty easily, though it could've been because Agatha left the screen right where they would need it.</p>
<p>Ace shrugged for the answer. "I don't know. We fell into that pattern and who am I to break it?"</p>
<p>"It would make your lives easier. You already like each other, might as well make it official and just be friends."</p>
<p>"I don't like her in any sense."</p>
<p>"Oh please, you're not the type to hate anybody."</p>
<p>Ace huffed. He and Agatha started off on the wrong foot and it would continue to be like that until the end of time.</p>
<p>~ 0 ~</p>
<p>The intention was to thank Agatha for helping the group out with their investigation. Nancy told Ace it would be better if he went in person to say it along with a miniature gift basket crafted by Bess. It was the least they could do for putting Agatha in a tight situation. As much as Ace tried persuading Nancy to do it herself, he lost the battle and went sent to the library with a damn basket He didn't even know what the gift was but it needed to be handed over to Agatha no later than today.</p>
<p>So, he trudged on to the library to find Agatha. He came directly up to the desk where Dominique sat. He internally groaned. No matter the relationship he had with Agatha, he would always prefer dealing with her instead of Dominique.</p>
<p>"Hey Dominique," he greeted in a mutter.</p>
<p>The woman didn't even do the same reactions that Agatha did, nothing to work with. "What do you want, Ace?" she demanded.</p>
<p>"I'm looking for Agatha. Is she in the back?"</p>
<p>"She's not in today. She won't be in for a while."</p>
<p>Now that was unusual. Agatha prided herself on her perfect attendance.</p>
<p>"Why not?" Ace asked.</p>
<p>Dominique rolled her eyes at him. "Car accident."</p>
<p><em>Oh</em>. Ace didn't really know what to do with himself for a couple seconds. He wasn't really sure what he was feeling. It might be...<em>concern</em>? He almost shuddered had it not been for the voice inside his head telling him not to be <em>that</em> type of rude. He didn't detest Agatha to the point he wanted her hurt. That was just...too far and not his type of thing. "Is she okay? Was she hurt badly?"</p>
<p>The ever so helpful Dominique shrugged her shoulders. "Don't know. I think she had a broken leg or something."</p>
<p>"Is she in the hospital?"</p>
<p>"At home, I think." Dominique's eyes soon fell over the gift in his hand. "Don't tell me that's for her?" she almost laughed.</p>
<p>Ace rolled his eyes at her. "Well it's definitely not for you," he said and turned to leave.</p>
<p>He returned to the Claw to inform the others of what he learned and this time, no matter how much Nancy insisted that he drop the gift off at Agatha's <em>house</em>, she didn't get him to budge. He visiting Agatha at her house was beyond the question. He tolerated Nancy's disapproving stares for the rest of that day. She didn't understand that he just couldn't do it. He and Agatha made it publicly known how much they disliked each other. What proof did he have that her parents would even let him into the house?</p>
<p>So, Nancy and an equally disappointed Bess, got together to visit Agatha themselves and give her the gift in person.</p>
<p>Agatha hadn't been expecting them but she was grateful for their concern and their uneeded gift. She sat on her bed with her left leg enveloped in a cast. "This is too sweet, thank you," she smiled at the girls.</p>
<p>"We sent Ace to the library to give you the gift but that's when we learned...about that..." Nancy made a gesture to the cast, making Agatha chuckle.</p>
<p>"I'll be fine with time," Agatha said as she undid the knot of the gift. "Bess, you have really good basket searching skills," she said as she started going through the things inside.</p>
<p>Bess beamed. "Thanks! Hair products are a girl's best friend! And of course the chocolates!"</p>
<p>"Yeah," Agatha agreed with a laugh that was cut short for some reason.</p>
<p>"You okay?" Nancy asked, wondering if she was feeling some pain.</p>
<p>"Uh, yeah, yeah," Agatha cleared her throat. She put on a smile for the pair. "Thank you so much for dropping this by. You didn't really need to. I don't know what Ace has told you about me but I do like to help once in a while. But if you tell him that to his face, I will be very upset with you two."</p>
<p>Nancy smiled. "We won't." She and Bess decided to leave shortly afterwards. Agatha was still on medication that required her to rest, after all.</p>
<p>But instead of resting, Agatha went through her gift basket again until she found what she'd discreetly hidden at the bottom. She picked up the ace card from the basket and stared at it until she found herself snorting a laugh.</p>
<p>"You idiot," she shook her head. No doubt he had refused to come to her house. Smart move. She couldn't blame him.</p>
<p>~ 0 ~</p>
<p>Two months later would have Agatha pushing the doors of the Claw open to walk in.</p>
<p>"We're closing!" she heard a young woman exclaim.</p>
<p>"Not here to order anything!" Agatha called back. "Here to see a...person." She struggled to find the right word so she settled with the one that couldn't be argued with at all. The young woman walked over and Agatha saw '<em>George</em>' on her name tag. "You're the owner of this place, aren't you?"</p>
<p>"Yeah," George set her hands on her hips. "And who are you?"</p>
<p>"Agatha Rhodes." As soon as she said her name, she saw the recognition flicker across George's eyes.</p>
<p>"Ooh, so you're the famous Agatha," George looked her over.</p>
<p>"He talks about me," Agatha sarcastically '<em>awwd</em>'.</p>
<p>It amused George. "You're looking good to me now."</p>
<p>"Yes," Agatha gave a light clap to her left leg now perfectly healed. "By any chance, could I talk to Ace for just a second? Annoy him a little?"</p>
<p>"Who would I be to stand in your way," George gestured her towards the counter.</p>
<p>Agatha laughed. She liked George already. She headed for the counter and, without missing a beat, yelled: "Order up!" She sat on a stool and glanced back at George. "If he drops any plates, I'm going to laugh so hard."</p>
<p>George was already there. "Stop by anytime, please."</p>
<p>Agatha readied herself when Ace finally came around. Two months without taking jabs at each other meant he had to have come up with good things to say. She was fairly interested to learn what they were.</p>
<p>"You're walking again," he says instead. He was even surprised and big time, something that Agatha wasn't expecting.</p>
<p>"Uuh, yeah," she said, even looking down as if she'd forgotten the fact her leg was healed.</p>
<p>"Are you good?" He came up on the other side of the counter. Agatha had the faint feeling he wanted to peek down to see for himself that her leg was better. Maybe he did. It was very hard weeding out information out of Dominique when she cared very little about her co-worker. He couldn't well ask his mother about Agatha's state lest he was interested in getting a series of questions about it. He resigned to simply waiting and as it turned out, he was not good at waiting.</p>
<p>"Perfectly fine," Agatha answered him. "But you...you look like hell."</p>
<p>The familiarity was too much for Ace. He laughed shortly. "Right."</p>
<p>Agatha was right back to what she was used to do with him. The pattern, their law, their way of being was back on track. She just needed his usual responses from him which, for some reason, she wasn't getting so easily. "I'll be back at the library starting Tuesday so if you could do me the favor of not showing your face around there, that'd be great."</p>
<p>"I'll be sure to use the back door," Ace said, earning a sarcastic beam from her in return. It was odd to admit that he missed that. Really odd.</p>
<p>"Oh, and I almost forgot..." Agatha reached inside her cardigan's pocket and placed the ace card down on the counter. "You seemed to have misplaced this in the beautiful basket your friend Bess made for me."</p>
<p>Ace's eyebrows raised at the sight of the card. He was <em>so</em> grateful that it was just George in the place because if it were Nancy around, he would not hear the end of it. "Yeah..."</p>
<p>Agatha ducked her head to meet his gaze. "Hello? Has the insane hair of yours finally taken all the oxygen supply to your brain?"</p>
<p>Ace rolled his eyes. "Give me that," he took back his card. "I will be sure to see you on Tuesday, Atty."</p>
<p>She straightened in her stool to glare at him. "I told you to stop calling me that!"</p>
<p>Ace tucked the card into his pocket. "What was that, Atty?"</p>
<p>"Stop it!"</p>
<p>"Never."</p>
<p>Agatha groaned and slid of her stool. "I really hate you!"</p>
<p>Yup, they were back to their usual antics now.</p>
<p>"Before you go, I have something for you," Ace raised a finger, effectively stopping her out of sheer curiosity for what he was going to do next.</p>
<p>She narrowed her eyes at him. "What?"</p>
<p>When he pulled out a playing card, she thought it was the same one she had just returned but when she inched closer to the counter, she saw it was different. And it was not funny at all.</p>
<p>"A joker card? Seriously?"</p>
<p>"Well, I just figured since I was lucky enough to get one from you..."</p>
<p>"I <em>really</em> hate you," Agatha rolled her eyes but, she did swipe the card off the counter anyways.</p>
<p>If someone asked her why, she wouldn't be able to answer. And if someone asked Ace why he was so elated, he wouldn't be able to answer either.</p>
<p>~ 0 ~</p>
<p>The next couple of times they met, whether it was casual or for mystery-related things, the cards somehow became a mode of introduction. Agatha felt a bubbling annoyance start as soon as Ace would slide his stupid card over the library counter (or sometimes just make it appear between his fingers like some magic trick). He enjoyed it too much.</p>
<p>"One of these days, I'm going to rip that card up," Agatha warned after handing a book over to him. She wouldn't even question what the hell kind of mystery he and Nancy had going on now. It was too hard to keep up.</p>
<p>"No you're not," Ace said with a heavy certainty that just made Agatha want to prove him wrong. But, of course, all she did was slide the ace card over the counter so he could take it back. She could easily just pick it up and tear it in two. In truth—<em>maybe</em>—she may have come to like their stupid game.</p>
<p>"Just take the damn book and go," she raised her hands in front of her. "And whatever you and your little crew is trying to solve, try not to come back and involve me."</p>
<p>"You wish, Atty."</p>
<p>"<em>Stop</em> calling me that!"</p>
<p>Ace smirked and mocked a salute for her. He grabbed his playing card, slipping it into the book as a bookmark, and headed off. Agatha was barely able to exhale when she heard her co-worker's remark.</p>
<p>"God, just get a room already." Dominique shooed her away from the computer to take up the spot.</p>
<p>Agatha stumbled back a few steps with widened eyes. "Gross! How dare you say something like that?"</p>
<p>Dominique rolled her eyes. "Drop it, Rhodes. I fear for my future around you two."</p>
<p>"Fear nothing because that's utter nonsense." With a huff, Agatha walked away from the desk. The <em>nerve</em> of that woman—no wonder Ace hated her too!</p>
<p>~ 0 ~</p>
<p>The moment Agatha learned the news of Ace's car crash, she felt like she was missing air. If she was being technical, she should say that she didn't believe it. It was a joke...except that it wasn't a joke. It was very, very real and she was...panicking. There she was at the library, in the middle of her shift, panicking at the spot. She wasn't focusing on anything, much less people coming up to check out books or to just ask questions. She couldn't focus on anything at all.</p>
<p>"Sheesh, for someone who doesn't care a lot, you look like hell," Dominique said.</p>
<p>Agatha didn't even have the energy to fight her this time. "It's a <em>car crash</em>. Of course I'm going to be concerned."</p>
<p>"That much?"</p>
<p>"This may come as a surprise to you, but I don't actually wish death upon anyone. Plus, we work with his mother. Can you imagine what she must be feeling right now?"</p>
<p>"Well I know what you're feeling right now." Dominique's smirk made Agatha wish she could throw a book at her right there.</p>
<p>But, Agatha kept to her menial tasks to avoid thinking so much. She had a couple of hours to go in her shift and she couldn't dream of asking for an early leave. She would never hear the end of it from Dominique anyways. She confined herself to waiting. Waiting, waiting, waiting.</p>
<p>At five o'clock sharp, she clocked out and hurried over to the hospital. Unsurprisingly, it was swarming with police officers. She could at least be certain that if the car accident hadn't been an accident, they would figure it out.</p>
<p>"Agatha?" she heard a familiar voice. Agatha looked around until she spotted Nancy and her friends on a set of chairs. Nancy was already getting up to greet her. "What are you doing here?"</p>
<p>"I, uh, I heard about the accident," Agatha bit on her bottom lip. "What the hell happened?"</p>
<p>"Just...an accident," Nancy replied. She would leave it at that for Agatha's sake. "It's unfortunate but, yeah..."</p>
<p>"Is he going to be okay?" Agatha kept glancing in the receptionist's direction. She very much wanted to go over there and ask direct questions there, but she was a fool to think she could get anything out of the woman. She was nothing of Ace's.</p>
<p>"He's in a coma but we're hoping for the best." Nancy watched the color drain from Agatha's face at the news. Clearly, she had not known about that.</p>
<p>"<em>Coma</em>," Agatha repeated in a shaky voice. "He's-he's in a coma? Oh my God!"</p>
<p>The last thing Nancy wanted was for Agatha to full-blown panic but because she was nearly there, Nancy decided to pull Agatha to the side to talk more in private. "You gotta listen to me, he's going to be okay."</p>
<p>"You just said he's in a <em>coma</em>, Nancy!" Agatha's yell was enough to pull the attention of some of the officers.</p>
<p>Nancy was quick to shush her again. "Listen to me, nobody else knows this but we sort of did a thing—"</p>
<p>"Oh I know! You guys always do '<em>a thing</em>' which is why you're always at the library!"</p>
<p>"It was a thing to help him get out of his coma but you want to know something, Agatha? We don't <em>need</em> to go to the library. We <em>choose</em> to go to the library. Or, rather, Ace does."</p>
<p>"What?" Agatha couldn't, and didn't have the mindset to, decipher Nancy's vague statement.</p>
<p>"Agatha, a lot of what we need is online nowadays but we come to the library anyways."</p>
<p>"What the hell for!?" The question slipped out on automatic with all the sharpness in the world.</p>
<p>Nancy stared at her until Agatha would hopefully answer her own question. Agatha didn't. "Are you serious?" Nancy shook her head. "For <em>you</em>! Ace '<em>subtly</em>' suggests the library because it'll have more concrete information. But we all know he just wants to see you!"</p>
<p>Agatha looked at Nancy in disbelief. "You're starting to sound like Dominique and that is a terrible thing to say, you know? But I had to do it."</p>
<p>Nancy rolled her eyes. "Don't play dumb, please. You're far from that. You know that I'm saying the truth. I wouldn't lie to you."</p>
<p>"Yeah?" Agatha scoffed. "You barely know me. You lie your way around to solve mysteries."</p>
<p>"I wouldn't lie to you because it involves my <em>friend</em> and because he likes you so much, I would never lie to <em>you</em>. You're important to him."</p>
<p>Agatha shook her head, wanting to push away all those words that were bringing up some weird feelings. "You're crazy, we hate each other. It's our thing. I like the way our thing is. Leave our thing alone.</p>
<p>"All I'm saying is to look where we are," Nancy gestured to the place, "I have faith that Ace will get out of this but this is a reminder that we don't have a guarantee of anything in this life."</p>
<p>It was scary how real this was getting. Agatha shook her fervently as if that would rid her ears of Nancy's words. "You know what? I have to go." She turned to leave, hearing Nancy's heavy sigh behind her, but she stopped a couple steps away. "Actually..." She turned back and though she deliberated her next move, she eventually pulled something out of her bag. "Could you give this to him?"</p>
<p>Nancy eyed the joker card in Agatha's hand. "What...what's that for?"</p>
<p>"He'll know," Agatha assured. He would know that she wasn't a terrible person and that she'd come to the hospital. It was important to her that he knew that.</p>
<p>"Yeah, okay," Nancy eventually said. She had no idea what the hell the card meant but she supposed this time it wasn't something for her to figure out. She took the card from Agatha, promising her that Ace would have the card as soon as he was lucid.</p>
<p>"Thanks," Agatha whispered. She turned to leave without looking back. She knew she couldn't come back and for some reason, it hurt. Once again, she would have to confine herself to the library and find out what happens through other means.</p>
<p>~ 0 ~</p>
<p>As the weeks went by, Agatha had to learn how to live without certainty. She once made the mistake of asking Ace's mother how things were going and Dominique overheard. She was lucky that Dominique had the decency not to blurt out any of her stupid comments but it was the last time Agatha took the risk. She didn't want to risk going through another awkward conversation with Nancy, so Agatha didn't even bother showing up at the Claw. She just...worked. She worked and did anything she could do to forget.</p>
<p>In a means to get away from Dominique (she'd been getting a little too cocky with feelings she thought she knew), Agatha decided to organize the returned books back to their right shelves. She found it was a lot better seeing book covers than have go's with her colleague.</p>
<p>"Hey there Atty."</p>
<p>Agatha nearly dropped her book out of a sheer startle. Once she had her bearings, she realized who had just called her that stupid nickname. Her head flipped to her right and met Ace's smug face. He stood nice and tall with no visible injuries. It was so relieving for Agatha that she had no idea what to do with all the feelings now stirring in her stomach.</p>
<p>"You...survived," she said, immediately regretting it because, really, <em>that's</em> what she could come up with? "Good." She grabbed a few more books and turned in the opposite direction. An insane heat worked itself up her neck and face. <em>Why!?</em></p>
<p>"That's all you have to say?" At least Ace sounded like he was amused with her. He was definitely back to normal. "And here I thought I'd get a huge welcome back party." He hurried after her and caught up at the end of the aisle.</p>
<p>"You <em>wish</em>," Agatha said. She was only looking at her books and where they needed to go. "Actually, if you ask Dominique, she might be holding back a cake or something."</p>
<p>A short laugh came out of Ace. "I wouldn't be that stupid to try anything she made."</p>
<p>Agatha half smiled. "And here I thought you didn't have any brains."</p>
<p>"I got the hospital records to prove that I do." Ace thought he had delivered quite a clever response but it had just made Agatha's already small smile disappear.</p>
<p>She was just about to put a book away on a shelf when she paused. She met his gaze for the first time since he arrived. All jokes and snappy responses aside, she spoke earnestly. "It's good to see you're doing well again. Your parents must be very happy."</p>
<p>"Thanks," Ace paid her with the same honesty coin.</p>
<p>Agatha offered him one tiny smile then finished putting the rest of the books in her arms back in their appropriate spots. "Your mother's in the back," she said to him on her way past him to the cart.</p>
<p>"Yeah, actually, I was here to see you." Ace turned with her and walked behind her.</p><hr/>
<p>
  <em>But we all know he just wants to see you!</em>
</p><hr/>
<p>Agatha cursed Nancy for ever saying that to her. Now she had to work hard to play dumb and act like this meeting was nothing but casual. "Yeah, what for?" She went through the cart for the next set of books she needed. "New mystery for the Scooby-Doo gang?"</p>
<p>"I came back to return this," Ace produced the joker card Agatha had left with Nancy.</p>
<p>Agatha felt like her face was on fire again. "Is that mine?"</p>
<p>"Obviously it's not mine. You, uh, left it..."</p>
<p>"Did I?"</p>
<p>As much fun as it would be to make jokes, Ace kept it serious. He thought long and hard about why he was coming to see her and why he even admitted it to her in the first place. "You came to the hospital," he said. It was a good place to start. Neutral.</p>
<p>It still seemed like a lot for Agatha. She hummed. "I did," she admitted. "As surprising as it is, I wouldn't want you to die on me. I'm not actually evil, you know."</p>
<p>"Oh, I know exactly what you are," Ace said.</p>
<p>Agatha deadpanned him for whatever comment was about to come out of his mouth. It never came. She left the books and the book cart to go retrieve her card from him. "I'll take that back now. I'll have to sanitize it, of course." She reached a hand for the card only to have Ace raise it high. "Seriously?" Agatha frowned. She was not about to jump for the damn thing. "I thought this is what you came here for. To give me my card back."</p>
<p>"I thought of a better place to give it back in," he said. She didn't quite care for his whimsical tone.</p>
<p>"Really?" she folded her arms. "And where would that be?"</p>
<p>"On a date with me this Saturday."</p>
<p>"<em>What</em>? I don't appreciate these types of jokes—"</p>
<p>"It's not a joke, Agatha, and you know it. That's not my style."</p>
<p>"You don't <em>have</em> a style."</p>
<p>Ace smiled. She just couldn't help her comments sometimes and it was fine, because sometimes he couldn't help them either. They came out like an instinct, especially when things seemed to get too close to...this. Maybe this is where they were always headed but because they were both stubborn, neither could ever admit to it.</p>
<p>After waking up from his coma, it was difficult for Ace to put together what happened. It was hard trying to make sense of anything for a while. Little by little, he started remembering more of what led to the accident and what he had been doing before. Once he started working again, things started falling into place again. It was only then that Nancy gave him Agatha's joker card. He was pretty upset that it took her that long to tell him Agatha had actually went to the hospital to visit him.</p>
<p>At that point, Nancy made him aware of just how upset he was and <em>why</em> he was. He wasn't a screamer, not even when he was angry, but he was a lot more upset after that. How dare she say something like that again?</p>
<p><em>'How dare you be upset that she didn't come see you yet?</em>' was the clever response he got from Nancy. It startled him how true that was. He <em>was</em> upset that Agatha didn't show any sign of concern for his accident. Even when he realized that he failed to do the same for her during her accident, it still upset him. It <em>hurt</em> him.</p>
<p>He didn't like not having her around, even if it was just to bicker with. Then he started to wonder what it would be like to spend <em>more</em> time with her, more than their usual few minutes of bickering and taking jabs at each other. It sounded really nice. A fuzzy feeling, really that amplified each time he took out her joker card. He needed to stop being stupid and just admit to himself that he liked Agatha. So he did.</p>
<p>And now here he was, trying to put all of those thoughts into coherent sentences.</p>
<p>"Any restaurant you like, Agatha. Just you and me," he said. "And the card."</p>
<p>Agatha stared long and hard at him trying to search his face for any clue of what he was up to. "You can't...you can't be asking me out on a date," she said, her expression twisting with incredulity. "You hate me!"</p>
<p>"I don't hate anybody, Agatha," Ace shook his head. "It takes too much energy to do that."</p>
<p>"You hate Dominique!"</p>
<p>"Have you <em>met</em> Dominique?"</p>
<p>As much as she didn't want to, a smile broke across her face. He deserved a point for that one. "Ace..." She laughed a little, just a tiny bit.</p>
<p>"Agatha, I'm being very serious here. Do you want to go on a date?" He lowered himself to her height to meet her gaze.</p>
<p>She was reluctant to meet his eyes, especially when she was sure her blush was highly visible. "This is weird," she admitted.</p>
<p>"Yeah, but I'm hoping it might be a good weird...is it?"</p>
<p>Agatha started chewing on her bottom lip the more self conscious she got about her appearance. He was too close to her to not see the red of her blush, her shifty stance, and worst of all <em>hear</em> her speedy heartbeats. And yet, even with all of that, she knew what she preferred. "Yeah, it is a little."</p>
<p>"A little?" Ace scrunched his face. "I guess I'll take it. I can definitely change your mind."</p>
<p>Agatha scoffed. "Don't get cocky. In fact, don't get 'anything' on me."</p>
<p>"Yeah, alright, so that date...?"</p>
<p>"I guess...it wouldn't be that bad..." She was lying. It actually sounded very fun and possibly nerve-wrecking being alone with him for a whole date, but she decided that she wanted to be there. "Yeah, let's go on a date."</p>
<p>Ace found it was truly hard not to outright beam. He wanted to be cool about it. "Great! I'll pick you up Saturday at eight?"</p>
<p>Agatha slowly nodded at him. Things felt a little too surreal. "I'm...I'll be waiting." All nicely dressed and with a nice hair-do and maybe some make up.</p>
<p>"Sounds good, I'll be sure to bring your card along," Ace patted his side pocket.</p>
<p>"Well now wait a minute," Agatha said, raising a finger as a new thought came to mind, "You should give me your card in the meantime. Can't expect me to show up empty handed, right?"</p>
<p>Ace chuckled. "That sounds fair." He reached into his other pocket to pull out the ace card.</p>
<p>She reached to take it but, like the last time, he raised high above his head. "Would you stop doing that!?"</p>
<p>"I couldn't help it," he shrugged. "So, Saturday?" He handed her the card and let his fingers gingerly brush over her hand.</p>
<p>She swallowed hard. "Mhm," she nodded. She held onto his card tightly.</p>
<p>"We can, uh, put the cards on the table then." He flashed her a smile that widened when she laughed.</p>
<p>"I guess so," she agreed.</p>
<p>"See you then, <em>Atty</em>!" He expected the scowl on her face and as much as he fought it, he couldn't hold his laugh in.</p>
<p>"I really hate you," she tried to spat but this time it sounded like she was close to laughing too.</p>
<p>"Apparently, you don't!"</p>
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